Tulsa Oktoberfest Polka Band Members Say They're Keeping It Young - And Bizarre

They're not your grandfather's polka band. Chardon Polka Band say they can play it all - from traditional favorites to Lady Gaga.<br/>

Friday, October 17th 2014, 10:13 pm

By: News On 6


A Polka band playing at Oktoberfest this year is drawing crowds of all ages. They play everything - from your what your grandparents like to current hits.

The Chardon Polka Band is playing all weekend at Linde Oktoberfest. They're from Cleveland, Ohio, and they even take requests. Shout out your favorite song, and they'll try to play it.

"You can't ask for more fun than Polka music," said Mike Franklin of the Chardon Polka Band.

"We get a lot of strange looks, you know, we don't look like Polka playing cats," said band member Jake Kouwe. "A lot of the bands are a little bit older than us, you know, but we keep it young and energetic and bizarre, really."

The group caters to all ages. Kids danced on Friday to the hokey pokey. For the adults, it was everything from Blink 182 to Kesha - all in a Polka style.

"We can get on stage and we can talk about the old traditional Polka until we're blue in the face and that's what I think makes us successful - is we actually do know a thing or two about these songs," Kouwe said.

"We know where they're coming from; however, we know what Lady Gaga is, we know what Justin Bieber is."

"Really, pop music and rock music has the same beat that Polka music does, it's just flavorings on top of it," Franklin said.

The crowd was blown away after hearing a different take on a familiar tune.

"This Polka thing was a little different," said Oktoberfest participant Bruce Langman. "They had American songs there were a lot of people who could sing along!"

Jake Kouwe of the Chardon Polka Band said it's not that hard to play Polka for everyone.

"It's gotta have that dance step: a one, two, three, a one, two, three, a one, two, three -- and that's what makes it Polka," he said.

"Now, normally it's about beer or women or something so you go....boomp, boomp, boomp, boomp, a one, two, three, a one, two, three, beer! Or women! Oktoberfest! And yodeling! You know that's Polka right there!"

Chardon plays all weekend long.

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